U.S. patent number 8,258,421 [Application Number 12/676,251] was granted by the patent office on 2012-09-04 for shielding gas flow controller for a welding apparatus.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Weltec AS. Invention is credited to Magne Farstad, Arild Halvorsen.
United States Patent |
8,258,421 |
Halvorsen , et al. |
September 4, 2012 |
Shielding gas flow controller for a welding apparatus
Abstract
A shielding gas (SG) flow controller for an arc welder includes
SG input/output with a controllable valve therebetween, and having
a control input, and a controller having a first input receiving a
welding signal representing arc current and a gas flow setting
controller generating a flow setting output based on the welding
signal, representing a desired SG flow. Input and output pressure
sensors provide SG input and out pressure to second and third
controller inputs, respectively. A flow setting output modifier
modifies the flow setting output of the gas flow setting controller
based on the SG input/output pressure, the welding signal, and a
characteristic of the controllable valve into a control signal
input to the control input of the controllable gas valve to
maintain a substantially constant SG flow corresponding to the flow
setting output substantially independent of actual SG input/output
pressures.
Inventors: |
Halvorsen; Arild (Averoy,
NO), Farstad; Magne (Molde, NO) |
Assignee: |
Weltec AS (Averoy,
NO)
|
Family
ID: |
40429087 |
Appl.
No.: |
12/676,251 |
Filed: |
September 1, 2008 |
PCT
Filed: |
September 01, 2008 |
PCT No.: |
PCT/NO2008/000308 |
371(c)(1),(2),(4) Date: |
June 18, 2010 |
PCT
Pub. No.: |
WO2009/031902 |
PCT
Pub. Date: |
March 12, 2009 |
Prior Publication Data
|
|
|
|
Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
|
US 20100276398 A1 |
Nov 4, 2010 |
|
Foreign Application Priority Data
|
|
|
|
|
Sep 3, 2007 [NO] |
|
|
20074477 |
|
Current U.S.
Class: |
219/74;
219/121.55; 219/121.63; 219/54; 219/132 |
Current CPC
Class: |
H05H
1/341 (20130101); B23K 9/0956 (20130101); G01M
3/2815 (20130101); B23K 9/325 (20130101); G05D
7/0635 (20130101); H05H 1/3494 (20210501) |
Current International
Class: |
B23K
9/00 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;219/54,74,121.55,121.63,132 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
|
|
|
|
|
|
|
4216075 |
|
Nov 1993 |
|
DE |
|
10336651 |
|
May 2005 |
|
DE |
|
5318130 |
|
Dec 1993 |
|
JP |
|
2005-34895 |
|
Feb 2005 |
|
JP |
|
20021557 |
|
Jul 2002 |
|
NO |
|
20070472 |
|
Jan 2007 |
|
NO |
|
03/082509 |
|
Oct 2003 |
|
WO |
|
2008091160 |
|
Jul 2008 |
|
WO |
|
Other References
International Search Report dated Jan. 9, 2009, from corresponding
PCT application. cited by other.
|
Primary Examiner: Slutsker; Julia
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Young & Thompson
Claims
The invention claimed is:
1. A shielding gas flow controller (100) for an electric arc
welding apparatus for insertion into a shielding gas supply line
between a shielding gas source (200) and a shielding gas valve
(800) of the electric arc welding apparatus, the flow controller
having a shielding gas (200) input and a shielding gas output
(600), a controllable gas valve (110) connected between the
shielding gas in- and outputs and having a control input (170), and
a controller means having a first input (400) for receiving a
welding signal representing an electrical welding arc current (900)
of the welding apparatus during a welding operation and a gas flow
setting control (300) means adapted to generate a flow setting
output being function of the welding signal and representing a
desired shielding gas flow, wherein the shielding gas flow
controller further comprises an input pressure sensor (120)
connected to the shielding gas input and arranged to provide a
shielding gas input pressure measurement (150) to a second
controller means input, and an output pressure sensor (140)
connected to the shielding gas output and arranged to provide a
shielding gas output pressure measurement to a third controller
means input (160), and a flow setting output modifying means
adapted to modify the flow setting output of the gas flow setting
control means based on the shielding gas input and output pressure
measurements, the welding signal, and a charateristic of the
controllable valve into a control signal (170) for input to the
control input of the controllable gas valve so as to maintain
during the welding operation a substantially constant shielding gas
flow in the shielding gas supply line to the welding apparatus
corresponding to the flow setting output substantially independent
of actual shielding gas input and output pressures at the shielding
gas in- and outputs, respectively.
2. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 1, comprising a means
adapted to determine a time at which the welding operation is not
being performed on basis of the welding signal (400), and the
controller means adapted to output to the controllable gas valve an
idle control signal so as to maintain the output pressure (600) at
a predetermined idle pressure level substantially during the time
at which the welding operation is not being performed.
3. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 1, comprising a gas
leak detector means adapted to be enabled during a period in which
the welding operation is not being performed determined on basis of
the welding signal, the gas leak detector means including a
subtractor means arranged to subtract the shielding gas output
pressure measurement from the shielding gas input pressure
measurement and to provide a pressure difference value output, and
a pressure difference comparator having a comparator output and
arranged to receive on first and second comparator inputs the
pressure difference value output and a predetermined pressure
difference reference value, respectively, and a comparator output
providing a leak indication when the pressure difference value is
substantially at or greater than the predetermined pressure
difference reference value.
4. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 2, comprising a gas
leak detector means adapted to be enabled during a period in which
the welding operation is not being performed determined on basis of
the welding signal (400), the gas leak detector means including a
reference value to be the predetermined idle pressure level of
claim 2, the measured output pressure level being continuously
compared with the reference value, and a comparator output
providing a leak indication when the pressure difference value
change is substantially at or greater than the predetermined
pressure difference reference value for a given period of time,
whereby the section (600) of the gas flow line is checked by this
gas leak checking method.
5. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 1, further comprising
a pressure level detector receiving the shielding gas input
pressure measurement and being adapted to effect provisioning of a
valve closing signal to the controllable gas valve so as to close
the gas valve when the shielding gas input pressure measurement
indicates a gas pressure being at or less than a predetermined
shielding gas input pressure minimum level.
6. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 1, further comprising
a gas leak detection means for detecting a gas leak in the gas flow
line (600), (700) and (800) adapted to measure the gas output
pressure at the output (140) of the valve (110) during the welding
operation, and adapted to indicate a leak in the gas flow line if
the measured gas output pressure drops below a predetermined gas
output pressure threshold.
7. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 2, comprising a gas
leak detector means adapted to be enabled during a period in which
the welding operation is not being performed determined on basis of
the welding signal, the gas leak detector means including a
subtractor means arranged to subtract the shielding gas output
pressure measurement from the shielding gas input pressure
measurement and to provide a pressure difference value output, and
a pressure difference comparator having a comparator output and
arranged to receive on first and second comparator inputs the
pressure difference value output and a predetermined pressure
difference reference value, respectively, and a comparator output
providing a leak indication when the pressure difference value is
substantially at or greater than the predetermined pressure
difference reference value.
8. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 2, further comprising
a pressure level detector receiving the shielding gas input
pressure measurement and being adapted to effect provisioning of a
valve closing signal to the controllable gas valve so as to close
the gas valve when the shielding gas input pressure measurement
indicates a gas pressure being at or less than a predetermined
shielding gas input pressure minimum level.
9. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 3, further comprising
a pressure level detector receiving the shielding gas input
pressure measurement and being adapted to effect provisioning of a
valve closing signal to the controllable gas valve so as to close
the gas valve when the shielding gas input pressure measurement
indicates a gas pressure being at or less than a predetermined
shielding gas input pressure minimum level.
10. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 2, further
comprising a gas leak detection means for detecting a gas leak in
the gas flow line (600), (700) and (800) adapted to measure the gas
output pressure at the output (140) of the valve (110) during an
welding operation, and adapted to indicate a leak in the gas flow
line if the measured gas output pressure drops below a
predetermined gas output pressure threshold.
11. The shielding gas flow controller of claim 3, further
comprising a gas leak detection means for detecting a gas leak in
the gas flow line (600), (700) and (800) adapted to measure the gas
output pressure at the output (140) of the valve (110) during an
welding operation, and adapted to indicate a leak in the gas flow
line if the measured gas output pressure drops below a
predetermined gas output pressure threshold.
Description
The present invention relates to the field of providing blanket
gas, also referred to as shielding gas or active gas, to a welding
point in an electrical welding apparatus, particularly to a method
and device for controlling blanket gas shielding gas; active gas
flow in various stages of a welding operation. The field of the
invention may also relate to gas regulation for plasma cutting
machines where the flow of cutting gas (primary gas), blanket gas
(secondary gas) or both of the aforementioned is controlled by
using the technical solution provided by the present invention.
For electrical welding operations where the welding point is to be
provided with a blanket of inert blanket gas, it is common to
provide the blanket gas from a centralized blanket gas supply
installation, or from a gas cylinder located in the vicinity of the
welding machine unit of the welding apparatus. The blanket gas
provided by the supply installation or the gas cylinder typically
is provided with a regulated gas pressure that exceeds the pressure
at which the blanket gas can be controlled by the blanket gas
control means of the welding apparatus. In order to reduce the
pressure to level at which the gas conveniently can be delivered to
the welding apparatus, and be controlled by a control valve in the
welding apparatus switching on and off the flow of blanket gas, a
pressure reduction device is inserted in the blanket gas supply
line in a location proximal to the gas cylinder or the gas supply
installation. Thus, a section of the gas supply line, in which the
gas is provided at a lower gas pressure than in the gas supply
installation or gas cylinder, exists between the pressure reduction
device and the welding machine itself. Typically, this "low
pressure" section of the supply line is of a considerable length,
in order to allow practical use of the welding machine unit, which
often is required to be easily relocateable in order to reach
differently located areas at which the welding work is to be
performed. Further details with regard to the aspects of the low
pressure supply line and the control of blanket gas supply for an
electrical welding apparatus is provided in the present applicant
Norwegian patent application no. 20021557, and corresponding
applications claiming priority from the aforementioned application.
In 20021557, a pulse width modulated signal driven valve controlled
by the welding wire feed rate takes the place of the traditional
shielding gas supply valve in an electrical arc welding
apparatus.
The present applicants co-pending Norwegian patent application no.
NO20070472 describes the use of a Pulse Width Modulated PWM valve
technique for controlling gas flow.
For electrical welding operations where the gas flow is regulated
according to a welding current and according to the selected
welding operation, it is important that the gas flow is held above
a minimum level to maintain a good quality of the welding. Aspects
that will affect the flow in a gas supply chain, are in general the
initial gas pressure and the gas-flow regulation performed by the
regulator itself. In addition there may be variable or constant
parameters that will affect the gas flow, and these are mainly
pressure drop in the supply line both from the regulated gas supply
to the regulator, and also pressure drop in the line from the
regulator to the point of the gas outlet. It is possibly to add a
flow sensor to measure the actual gas flow, and thereby compensate
for the total pressure drop. The disadvantage is that flow sensors
are expensive to introduce in a final product, and also the
accuracy of the available flow sensors are variable and
unpredictable depending on where they are placed in the gas flow
line. This variation of accuracy is related to the pulsed gas-flow
which interfere with the known flow measurement instruments.
The present invention describe a method to obtain a gas flow
regulation that will overcome problems related to the above
mentioned pressure drop. The same problems controlling the gas flow
in plasma cutting operations will also be solved using the same
regulation technique.
The present invention provides a gas flow controller for a welding
apparatus exhibiting the features recited in the accompanying
independent patent claim 1.
Further advantageous features of the gas flow controller of the
invention are recited in the accompanying dependent patent claims
1-5.
A shielding gas flow controller according to the present invention
for an electric arc welding apparatus is for insertion into a
shielding gas supply line between a shielding gas source and a
shielding gas valve of the electric arc welding apparatus. The flow
controller has a shielding gas input and a shielding gas output, a
controllable gas valve connected between the shielding gas in- and
outputs and having a control input, and a controller means having a
first input for receiving a welding signal representing an
electrical welding arc current of the welding apparatus during a
welding operation and a gas flow setting control means adapted to
generate a flow setting output being function of the welding signal
and representing a desired shielding gas flow. The shielding gas
flow controller further comprises an input pressure sensor
connected to the shielding gas input and arranged to provide a
shielding gas input pressure measurement to a second controller
means input, and an output pressure sensor connected to the
shielding gas output and arranged to provide a shielding gas output
pressure measurement to a third controller means input, and a flow
setting output modifying means. The flow setting output modifying
means is arranged to modify the flow setting output of the gas flow
setting control means based on the shielding gas input and output
pressure measurements, the welding signal, and a characteristic of
the controllable valve into a control signal for input to the
control input of the controllable gas valve so as to maintain
during the welding operation a substantially constant shielding gas
flow in the shielding gas supply line to the welding apparatus
corresponding to the flow setting output substantially independent
of actual shielding gas input and output pressures at the shielding
gas in- and outputs, respectively.
Advantageously, the shielding gas flow controller also comprises a
means adapted to determine a time at which the welding operation is
not being performed on basis of the welding signal, and the
controller means is adapted to output to the controllable gas valve
an idle control signal so as to maintain the output pressure at a
predetermined idle pressure level substantially during the time at
which the welding operation is not being performed.
Advantageously, in an embodiment of the shielding gas flow
controller of the invention, it comprises a gas leak detector means
being adapted to be enabled during a period in which the welding
operation is not being performed, and being adapted to determine
the period on basis of the welding signal or based on output of
another device monitoring the welding signal. The gas leak detector
means includes a subtractor means arranged to subtract the
shielding gas output pressure measurement from the shielding gas
input pressure measurement, and to provide a pressure difference
value output. A pressure difference comparator has a comparator
output, and is arranged to receive on first and second comparator
inputs the pressure difference value output and a predetermined
pressure difference reference value, respectively. The comparator
is adapted to provide on a comparator output a leak indication when
the pressure difference value is substantially at or greater than
the predetermined pressure difference reference value.
In a further embodiment of the shielding gas flow controller of the
invention, it comprises a pressure level detector receiving the
shielding gas input pressure measurement and being adapted to
effect provisioning of a valve closing signal to the controllable
gas valve so as to close the gas valve when the shielding gas input
pressure measurement indicates a gas pressure being at or less than
a predetermined shielding gas input pressure minimum level
In the attached drawings,
FIG. 1 is an overall block schematic of gas flow regulator 100 of
the invention in a welding operation
FIG. 2 is a detailed block schematic of the gas flow regulator 100
of the invention in a Welding operation illustrated in FIG. 1,
FIG. 3 is a detailed block schematic of an exemplary embodiment of
the gas flow regulator 100 of the invention,
FIG. 4 is a detailed block schematic of an exemplary embodiment of
the control unit of the gas flow regulator 100 of the invention
based on a Hardware solution,
FIG. 5 is an illustration of the physical setup with pressure
sensors, valve orifice and flow direction,
FIG. 6 is a graph illustrating on a time axis the PWM signal with
respect to the period T where Ton is representing the valves
ON-period,
FIG. 7 is a block schematic drawing of the table look-up employed
by the invention,
FIG. 8 is a graph showing the flow through an exemplary embodiment
of the flow regulator of the invention, the valve operated with a
fixed PWM value and a variation of the input pressure from 2 to 6
bar,
FIG. 9 is a graph illustrating gas flow through the valve of the
gas regulator of an exemplary embodiment of the invention where the
regulation of the PWM according to the value of the pressure
sensors are included, and
FIG. 10 is a block schematic drawing showing the gas regulation
system of the invention embodied into a plasma cutting machine
having two regulated gas flow lines.
Referring to FIGS. 1 and 2, the invention provides an improvement
in gas flow stability, by automatically controlling the average
time at which the valve is kept open, thereby reducing flow
variations that typically are experienced in prior art welding gas
supply installations where gas is supplied from a feeding point 200
that will be placed at a distance away from the regulator 100. In
such prior art installations, it is common that the regulator 100
is placed at a considerable distance away from the gas final outlet
point 1100. These distances will normally vary from one
installation to another installation, and also the dimensions of
the supply hoses, tubes, pipes, adapters and connector vary, and
the result is that the gas flow level is influenced as shown by the
measurement done in FIG. 8, and therefore the flow need to be
regulated according to the pressure variations in order to keep the
flow level within acceptable tolerances.
The gas flow controller of the present invention includes pressure
sensors at the input (120) and the output (140), respectively, of
the "PWM CONTROLLED GAS FLOW REGULATOR" 100. Herein, PWM is an
acronym for "Pulse Width Modulated", corresponding to what is
disclosed in the co-pending Norwegian patent application no.
NO20070472.
The pulse width controlled gas flow regulator referred to above, in
part employed by the present invention, includes a pulse train
generator and a pulse train driven valve, typically comprising a
solenoid. The pulse train has two states, the ON state (Ton) and
the OFF state as described in FIG. 6. The duration (Ton, Toff),
i.e. periods, of the aforementioned states may be varied by way one
or more inputs to the pulse train generator. The valve is
responsive to the aforementioned states, such that the valve
assumes a substantially fully open state when driven by the ON
state part of the pulse train, and a substantially fully closed
state when driven by the OFF state part of the pulse train. By a
suitable selection of the pulse repetition frequency of the pulse
train, drive power dissipated in the valve is at a minimum, thereby
improving the regulator performance.
In the disclosure of present invention provided herein, including
the attached drawings, the pulse train driven valve is referred to
by numeral 110, and the pulse train regulator is included as part
of the valve controller arrangement being referred to herein by
numeral 130.
With reference to FIG. 3, some operational aspects of the gas flow
controller of the present invention are explained in the
following.
To operate the gas flow controller of the present invention, the
initial setting of the desired, or required gas flow level (Q) can
either be by a reference input 300 from an operator or a control
device, or it can be a measured feedback value 400 from another
process that is determining the gas flow requirement.
An input pressure measurement of P1, at 150 the gas pressure at
valve input 120 is fed to the valve controller arrangement 133 to
adjust an ON-period 170 of the PWM-controlled valve 110, in order
to obtain a constant gas flow 600.
An output pressure P2 measurement 160 of gas pressure at valve
output 140 is used to provide a compensation for a reduction of the
gas flow that typically is caused by constant or variable changes
in the shape, such as cross section or length of the gas flow line,
being constituted by hoses, pipes, and connections 600, 700, 800.
If the amplitude (value) of the output pressure P2 is negligible
(i.e. the value of P2 is so low that the PWM output variation is
within acceptable limits) then this measurement can be left out of
the regulation by setting the value of P2 to 0 atm (or 1 atm if
absolute pressure value measurements are used), or if the
variations of value of P2 are within acceptable limits, then the
measurement of P2 can be replaced by a fixed value in the formula.
An example is that if the output pressure P2 is measured to be e.g.
1.2 bar, then the formula could be .DELTA.P=P1-1.2. The advantages
are to reduce the number of measurements points, which again reduce
the product price and complexity.
A difference in gas pressure .DELTA.P=P1-P2 between the input 120
and output 140 of the valve, obtained as a pressure difference
value by subtracting in a subtractor 131 the output pressure
measurement 160 from the input pressure measurement 150, is fed to
a pressure difference input 132 of the valve controller arrangement
133, and used therein to calculate the gas flow through the valve
110 when the valve is open.
The regulation of the gas flow can be done according to different
methods in the valve controller arrangement 133 such as: a) look-up
table for the required pulse width b) a function formula,
polynomial that calculate the pulse width c) electronic hardware
resulting in an improved flow regulation shown in FIG. 9, which
show a dramatically improvement of the flow control compared to the
unregulated flow shown in FIG. 8.
In the following, an embodiment of the invention involving the use
of one or more look-up tables to determine the valve control signal
will be explained with reference to FIG. 7.
The embodiment on the invention that employs look up tables, a set
of values have been collected in previous measurements done for the
actual fluids and components to be used. To collect the values for
the tables, for different pressure levels of P1 and P2, the flow is
measured and the resulting values are placed inside several look-up
tables. The functionality of block 134, represents the process
parameter Y and/or user input X is user/process specific, and
.DELTA.P=P1-P2.
The value of .DELTA.P points to the table that must be used, and
the process parameter (Y) and/or user input, (X) are used to select
within the table the PWM output value (170). For a typical welding
application .DELTA.P will vary between 1-6 bar, and for
plasma-cutting applications the .DELTA.P may be up to 12 bar. The
number of tables to be used will vary with the requirements for
accuracy, but can typical be one table pr. 0.5-1 bar. It can be
sufficient to use fewer tables by introducing an interpolation
method between the tables, which by calculation will give PWM
outputs for values of .DELTA.P that lies inbetween the values in
the available tables.
In the following, an embodiment of the invention involving the use
of Calculation to determine the valve control signal will be
explained with reference to FIG. 5.
The total block of 130 in FIG. 3 can be replaced by a calculation
performed in a processor by way of suitable software. With
reference to FIG. 5, a fluid passing through the orifice
constriction represented by the valve's opening diameter Do, will
experience a drop in pressure across this orifice. This pressure
drop is used to measure the flow rate of the fluid when the valve
is in its open stage. The calculation of the flow rate of gas
passing through the orifice of the valve is typically based on
Bernoulli's equation, combined with the ON-period (Ton) relative to
a total switching period T as described in FIG. 6.
Bernoulli's equation can be modified to ease the calculation in a
computer, and can by introducing a flow coefficient C(f), be
written as: Q(max)=C(f)*Ao*sqr(2*.DELTA.P/.rho.) where
Q(max)=maximum volumetric flow rate (valve constant open)
Ao=.pi.*(Do/2).sup.2=area of valve opening (in open stage)
.DELTA.P=P1-P2 .rho.=Fluid density The flow coefficient C(f) is by
experiment or in a datasheet for the actual orifice of the valve.
In place of basing the determination of Q(max) and Ao on the
physical characteristics of the valve itself, a separate orifice
device may suitably be located directly at the gas input or gas
output of the valve in such a way that the separate orifice device
is the dominating element with regard to establishing Q(max) and Ao
properties of the valve assembly.
Based on the required flow level Q for the particular application,
which would correspond to the desired gas flow, the ON-period (Ton)
for the PWM modulated valve is be calculated by: Q=Q(max)*T(on)/T
T(on)=T*Q/Q(max)
The pulse rate of the PWM output (170) are chosen based on the flow
requirements for the application. The pulsation of the gas supplied
at the outlet (1100) as a blanket gas in a welding application or
as a blanket and/or cutting gas in a plasma cutting machine, as a
result of the chosen pulse rate, must be within acceptable limits.
I.e. it must not be variations in the supply of the gas at the
outlet 1100 that will affect the quality of the welding or the
cutting processes.
In addition the application specific parameters X (300) and Y (400)
can be included in the calculation based on user specific settings
X and/or process feedback parameter(s) Y.
In the following, an embodiment of the invention involving the use
of hardware regulation to determine the valve control signal will
be explained with reference to FIGS. 3 and 4.
In a hardware solution, the .DELTA.P (132) signal is fed into the
block 133, and compared with an output signal from the a ramp
generator 134. The magnitude of the output signal from the a ramp
generator 134 is influenced by application specific parameters X
and/or Y The ramp generator can be realized by a discrete hardware
solution or by an timer circuit like the 555 tinier circuit. The
amplitude and/or the offset of the ramped output signal from the
ramp generator 134 will be influenced by X and/or Y either as a
offset value or as a gain. This is normally user specific settings,
but the resulting effect will be that a higher current 900,
resulting in a higher value of the process specific feedback value
Y, will require a higher level of gas flow. The influence of the
user specific value X is that different welding or cutting
operations will require different levels of gas flow. The
parameters that will influence on the users setting of the X value
is typical the material that is going to be welded or cut, the
thickness of the material, the speed of the welding or cutting and
the gas type used. The functionality of block 134, representing the
process parameter Y and/or user input X is user/process specific,
with the result of a ramped output voltage. When the ramp voltage
at the negative input of 137 is lower than .DELTA.P, then the PWM
output 170 is high (OFF). When the ramp voltage is higher than
.DELTA.P then the output is low (ON).
Gas Leak Detection:
Gas leak detection of the gas flow line from the valve 110 of the
flow controller of the invention to the output valve 800 of the
welding apparatus. With both valves 110 and 800 closed, a constant
pressure should normally be detected by the pressure sensor 140 at
the output of the flow controller of the invention). If this
pressure decreases with both valves 110 and 800 closed, this is
useful as an indicator of a gas leak in the supply line between the
valve of the flow controller of the invention and the output valve
800 of the welding apparatus.
Idle Gas Pressure Maintenance:
Filling the gas flow line (600) with a minimum pressure to make a
quick start of gas supply to the gas outlet (1100) when starting a
new welding or cutting operation. This is typically valid in
situations where the current 900 is off and the valve 800 is
closed. When a new welding or cutting operation is started, then
the gas should be available at the gas outlet 1100 when the current
900 is starting. If not this can cause failure or poor quality on
the operation to be performed.
* * * * *